Route meter



Jan. 19 1926. 1,569,946

E E. F. BUETTNER ET m.

ROUTE METER Filed April 2O,v 1925 Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

UNITI-:D ASTATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD F. BUETTNER, EMERY GANUN, AND HENRY K. THROM, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

ROUTE METER.

Application filed April 20, 1925. Serial No. 24,388.

To all whom t may concern.'

.Be it known that we, EDWARD NER, EMERY GANUN, and HENRY K. THRoM,citizens of the United States, and residents of Toledo, in the county ofLucas and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Route Meter,which, invention is fully set forth in the following specification. 4

This invention relates to devices adapted to be connected to and beoperated by means, such, for instance, as speedometer driving means,moving in accordance with the forward movement of an associatedautomobile or other vehicle to designate any particular route beingtraversed, and the object of the invention is the provision of a simple,improved and efficient device of this character.

The invention is fully described in the following specifieation, and oneembodiment thereof is illustratedin the accompanying y drawing, inwhich,-

secured to the instrument board or other' convenient mounting partwithin an automobileand having a removable top portion or cover 2, whichis held to the body of the case by snap fasteners 3 at its ends. `Thecover 2 is provided with an opening 4 through which the route tape 5 maybe viewed as it travels lengthwise within the case below the Windowopening, as herein-V after described. The opening 4 is preferably closedby a glass p ate 6 or other suit,- able transparent member. A guideplate 7 for the tape 5 is disposed within the case in slightly spacedrelation to the lower edge of the window 4 and holds the tape 'in closeproximit to the window throughout the .len th o the window opening.

pair of rolls 8, 9 is mounted crosswise in the case 1, one roll withineach end thereof, and the tape 5 winds from one to the other of theserolls, the roll 9, in the present instance, being the winding roll andthe roll 8 the guay-out roll. The tape preferably unwinds rom the top ofthe ay-out roll 8 and thence passes over a gui e plate 7 and feed roll10, and then down under the winding roll 9. A spring-pressed idler roll11 is carried by the cover member 2 of the case partly within a raisedportion 12 thereinl for instance, to the speedometer drive means of anautomobile so that the feed roll 10 will be driven in properlysynchronized relation with the speedometer. The shaft section 13 has aclutch member 14 thereon, which is adapted to have engagement with aclutch member 15 on the shaft section 13a (Fig. 4). The shaft section 13is mounted for axial movements relative to the case 1 to permit a manualwithdrawal of the clutch member 14 from engagement with its companion.

Each spool or tape roll 8 and 9 is detachably held at one end by a stubshaft 16 and at its other end by a stub shaft 17, which shafts'aremounted for axialmovements in bearings 18 and 19 projecting inwardlyfrom the respective case sides. Knobs 20 and 21 are provided on theouter ends of the respective stub shafts 16 and 17 without the case topermit withdrawal of the shafts from engagement with the respectivespools 8 and 9 when it is desired to remove the spools from the case orto reverse the positions of the spools. A spring 22 is anchored in thebottom portion of the case 1 for each stub shaft 16 and 17 and projectsupwardly through a registerin opening in the bottom of the respectivesha t bearing and yieldingly enters a registering oneof a pair ofpe--ripheral grooves 23 in the shaft and acts on the shaft to yieldinglyhold it either in in- .wardly projected position or in released positionwith respect to its spool. A coiled expansion spring 24 is mountedaround each bearing 19 and acts against the adjacent end of the spool totake up any play or looseness between the spool an bearings.

A gear 25 is mounted on the drive shaft 13, preferably at the oppositeAend of the' roller 10, to the clutch 14, 15 and is in driving connectionwith a gear 26 on the stub shaft 16 for the upper or winding tape roll.rl`he gear 26 when rotated is intended to drive the stub shaft 16 onwhich mounted and through the adjacent tape spool, but is adapted topermit axial movements of the stub shaft therein. If it is desired todisconnect the driving connection between the gears 25 and 26 the shaft13 is drawn outwardly, thereby moving the gear 25 laterally fromengagement with the other, and the stub shaft 16 may then be turned byhand to effect the desired turning of the connected It is preferable tohave a route printed on each side of the tape 5, so that after the useof the tape for traversing one route the tape may then be used for theother route without rta-winding the tape from the spool on which it wasWound in traversing the first route. To accomplish this, the tape Windson the winding spool in the reversed direction from which it unwindsfrom the other, spool, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and after the tapehas been entirely Wound on the Winding spool the positions of the'spools may be reversed and the outer free end of the spool connectedacross the plate 7 and feed roll 10 to the upper Winding spool so thatthe unwinding of the tape from one spool and its winding on the otherwill be in the same relation as indicated in Fig. 2.

lVe wish it understood that our invention is not limited to anyparticular construction, arrangement or form of the parts as it iscapable of different modifications and changes without departing fromthe spirit of the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a route meter, a case having a Window in its front side, spoolsremovably mounted in spaced relation in the case from one to the otherof which a route tape winds across said Window, a guide within the casefor holding a tape in adjacent relation to said window as it feedsacross the same, a feed roll mounted Within the case for engagement withthe tape, a shaft carryin the feed roll and axiall shiftable from witout the case, a drive s aft section adapted to have connection with adriving source, a clutch for connecting said shaft and shaft section andreleasable by an axial shifting of the first shaft and geared connectionbetween said lirst shaft and the tape winding spool of the pair fordriving one from the other, said connection being separable upon aclutch releasing movement of the first shaft to permit a manual turningof the winding spool.

2. A route meter having a case with a window in the front side thereof,a spool mounted in each end of the case from one to the other of which aroute tape winds across said window, a pair of stub shafts engaging theopposite ends of each spool for carrying the same for rotar movements,said shafts bein axially mova le from without the case to re ease thespools, a sectional shaft mounted in the case sides and adapted to haveconnection with a driving source, one section extending across theinterior of the case and being axially movable from Without the case, aclutch connection between the shaft sections adapted to be disengaged ban outward axial movement of the movable shaft section, a feed rollmounted on the axially movable shaft section within the case forengagement with a tape Winding from one to the other of the spools, aeared connection between said axially mova le shaft and the Windingspool for driving one from the other, said connection being disengagedby a clutch releasing movement of the movable shaft section.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto signed our names to thisspecification.

EDWARD F. BUETTNER. EMERY GANUN. HENRY K. THROM.

